Healing of the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict - based on Rabbi Michael Lerner's Book
For the past 70 years, my most fervent wish was for peace in the Middle East and a safe and secure life for both the Israelis and the Palestinians. I worked on a kibbutz and on an army base, patrolled with the Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron, attended conferences, studied at the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at Hebrew University, wrote a book, lived in Gaza, with a Bedouin family in the Negev and an Hasidic family in Jerusalem, took a “Compassionate Listening” course and travelled to Israel many times and spoke to people from all backgrounds. It was with great trepidation that I followed the recent developments: building of the settlements, annexation of East Jerusalem areas, proclamation of a Jewish State, all of it making a two-state solution impossible and pointing to the fact that Israel is in danger of sliding into an apartheid situation. Here are two men who guided my thoughts:
1. Dr. John Mearsheimer
I found a video made by Dr. John Mearsheimer before the Jerusalem Fund in which he put down in clear and concise language that in the long run there is really no choice: the situation in Israel/Palestine will invariably end in an Arab majority population due to the higher Arab birthrate, and the looming of apartheid issue will turn the world against Israel. To continue on the current path means certain disaster. (See enclosed chart) This inability to survive in the long run may be a forceful impetus to consider other options.
2. Rabbi Michael Lerner
The book by psychotherapist, activist and community leader Rabbi Michael Lerner is called “Embracing Israel/Palestine, A Strategy to Heal and Transform the Middle East”, and it deals with the work that must be done before a political decision is made. Rabbi Lerner’s book is over 400 pages long and contains advice and guidance for theoretical understanding and practical steps to deal with the trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder of two people who carry a tremendous load of suffering, misunderstanding, misconception and hopelessness. In this place only some general points can be elaborated on, and reading Rabbi Lerner’s book is highly advisable.
The predominant view among diplomats and policymakers in the United States, Europe, Israel, and the Arab world is that what is needed in the Middle East is a final settlement accord. They believe that the international community will implement peace once the diplomats can sit down and work out the terms that are acceptable to both sides. As Rabbi Lerner said, this perspective is mistaken. No matter what agreement is worked out in such negotiations, it is unlikely to succeed in reality unless a dramatic reconciliation of the heart takes place among the various parties to the conflict. Without such a reconciliation, even a globally popular settlement agreement (like the Oslo Accords) has little chance of succeeding.
This transformation or consciousness is necessary especially in view of the fact that the situation on the ground gives no hope for peace now or in the future without a change in attitude, a dealing with the memories of one’s own pain and understanding the trauma of the other side, replacing the blame attributed to the other party. Healing will be necessary for all and healing begins with seeing the other as human beings with their particular undeserved wounds.
Jews did not return to their ancient homeland to oppress the Palestinian people, and Palestinians did not resist the creation of a Jewish state out of hatred of the Jews. Each community has at times consistently done bad things for bad reasons. Both sides have made and continue to make terrible mistakes. Yet the choices of both sides are also understandable, given their perceptions of their own and the other’s situation. As long as each community clings to its own story, unable to acknowledge what is plausible in the story of the other side, peace will remain a distant hope, because both people, the Jews and the Palestinians, have a fate that is intrinsically linked.
Rabbi Lerner offers a perspective that explores how decent human beings in each community could end up perceiving the other as an irreconcilable enemy. Also, how, within their own framework, each became blind to the other’s legitimate needs and the ways their own community contributed to the current mess.
Huge traumas have constricted the ability of Israelis and Palestinians to see and act upon what is in their own best interest. For those of us who truly care about the well-being of both sides, or even of either side, the task is to heal the trauma. That healing is not just a political or psychological project but also a spiritual project.
A central task in reaching peace is for each community to embrace the other. Only after Palestinians and Israelis receive the emotional and spiritual nurturance they desperately need will they be able to develop an enlightened view of their own group’s true self-interest. In this case, as in so many others, this necessarily involves the fulfillment of the legitimate needs of the other community’s enlightened self-interest. It is by embracing each community in a spirit of genuine caring, openheartedness, and generosity that we can begin the process of transforming the Middle East. To be able to do that, we will need not only a new psychological orientation but also a spiritual transformation – one that allows us to let go of the idea that security requires domination of the other and instead to embrace the idea that lasting security can be better achieved through generosity and caring for others.
That won’t happen in one single moment. It requires a process of consciousness transformation, about empowering our most loving, kind, and generous instincts, honoring the spiritual wisdom of our traditions (both religious and secular) that teach us that every human being on the planet is equally precious and deserving of well-being and fulfillment. It is also about building political and economic arrangements that facilitate rather than undermine our capacity to care for each other across all religious, national and ethnic lines.